Thanks Dan, Yes, I am going to be manual soldering, and make special pads just as you do. I think it is generally good for the PCB because repair and component placement is similar to manually soldering. The recomended pad is probably trying to conserve solder and to inhibit tomstoning as the PCB moves through the soldering temp.
I ended up streching the pads (more images later). But the original spread was due to a numerical entry error that was discovered by the model. I sure do like KiCAD. The Module Editor was a little funny at first, but I think I am using it pretty good now. The suggestion to make a 'document board' with all components on it makes sense with the module edit methods. I have been just making individual files for each new module, but it is a little sloppy. ...Jim H. ----- Original Message ----- From: d_wolstenholme To: [email protected] Sent: Wednesday, September 09, 2009 1:58 PM Subject: [kicad-users] Re: Modeling is good stuff If you're doing manual soldering, I'd recommend sticking with the wide pads; it's a lot easier to solder them when the pad extends from the device. The manufacturer's recommended pad layouts are never very good for manual soldering. The pads themselves in the "wide" one were still too narrow, however, as they don't extend enough underneath the pins. For SMD packages, I draw my own footprints in KiCAD, starting with the manufacturer's recommended layout. Then, I enlarge the pads as much as I can reasonably, so there's more area to touch the iron and solder to the pad so it flows under the part better. For thru-hole devices, I enlarge the pad there as much as possible too, while leaving the hole size the same. Dan --- In [email protected], "Jim Hughen" <jhug...@...> wrote: > > http://www.judiandjim.com/linkfiles/KiCad3D3b.jpg > > With 3D viewer, a mistake is found in the footprint pad design (pads were too wide). > > After fixing the footprint, the pads look too close. A modification will improve soldering.
